


Zip it, Lock it, Put it in Your Pocket

by onewholewhale



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (But he doesn't know it yet), Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Coming Out, Gay Keith (Voltron), I'm ignoring season 3 kk, M/M, Oh hey fun I'm ignoring season 3 but Lotor might be in it?, Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Some of this comes from me projecting my own experiences discovering I'm bi, probably won't end up badly, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2018-12-17 01:49:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11841456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onewholewhale/pseuds/onewholewhale
Summary: “I’m Gay.”Lance froze. “What?”“I… Don’t really…” Keith cleared his throat. “I don’t like girls.”“Yeah, I got that part.” Lance said hurriedly. “But… Why here? why now? Why me?”AKA Lance has to keep a secret.





	1. I'm giving you everything

**Author's Note:**

> First voltron fic!! Wow can't believe I was born out of the Jeanmarco era.  
> what a fucking thing that one was.  
> Anyways  
> Hope u enjoy

“I’m Gay.”

Lance froze. “What?”

“I… Don’t really…” Keith cleared his throat. “I don’t like girls.” 

“Yeah, I got that part.” Lance said hurriedly. “But… Why here? why now? Why _me?”_

They were currently standing in Lance’s room, after Keith knocked on his door, asking for some advice. After very quickly hiding all his discarded clothes under the bed, Lance had let him in. As you can imagine, a confession was not something Lance was expecting. _  
_ Keith shifted anxiously from foot to foot. “I know its… weird, and really out of the blue, but…” Keith let out a sigh. “I just, _really_ needed to tell someone, you know? It’s been eating me up inside.” Keith paused, chewing on his lip. “You probably don’t, never mind…” Keith mumbled before turning towards the door, suddenly looking very vulnerable.

Lance very quickly started waving his hands. “Nono, Keith, uh…it’s ok, its, uh…” Lance was stumbling for words. He’s never been in a situation where someone who he didn’t know very well (or at all) confessed what _could be_ his biggest secret. “I… Its fine, I get it, yeah.”

Keith look at him with warily. “You sure?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Keith don’t worry about it, hah” Lance suddenly felt very unsure of everything in the universe. Suddenly, he felt the need to clarify. “I mean… I’m not gay, so obviously I don’t understand it” Lance rushed with what he was going to say next after seeing Keith’s hurt expression.“But… you’re still my teammate, you know? that’s never gonna change. So I don’t… I don’t mind that you’re gay.”  
After seeing Keith’s surprised face, he spoke up, feeling a little more confident. “And I don’t think anyone else on the crew has any problem with that.” Lance raised his fists up, feigning an attack. “If they do, I’ll punch them.” 

Keith snorted at the earnest look on Lance’s face, raising his eyebrows. “Ok, Lance.” Lance smiled back.

It was quiet for a moment, reveling in the tense atmosphere in the room. Keith scratched the back of his neck— Something Lance was beginning to recognize though all the time spent together in the castle was Keith’s nervous tic.

“Also uh Lance?” 

“Yeah?” Lance held his breath, heartbeat suddenly spiking. _Was this all a prank?_

“… Please don’t tell anyone, ok?” Keith asked, pleading look on his face.

Lance felt relief wash over him, before feeling immediately guilty about it.  
“Oh, yeah of course. I wouldn’t even think of it.” Lance grinned at Keith.  
“Your secret’s safe with me.”  
Keith looked at lance for half a tick longer before slowly smiling back. “Thanks, Lance.” In a clearer voice, he said “Also uh, Sorry about this.”

Lance frowned. “Sorry for what?”

Keith hesitated, opened his mouth, then closed it, giving Lance an apologetic look. “Nothing I guess.” He grabbed his helmet on the way out. “Good night.” He said over his shoulder as he stepped away, door sliding shut beneath him.

 

Lance laid down on his soft, cushy mattress with a sigh. Fighting Galra fleets one day, Giant party the next— Life as a paladin is non stop and exciting. precious, peaceful times like this let him think about things. Especially like what happened with Keith just ticks before.

Lance grew up in a small home with a large family in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. It was always noisy, with the crying, screaming, fighting— and every Sunday mamá would force everyone into their Sunday best and march the 4 dusty blocks to church. _Hardcore roman catholic_ is what is family identified as. So, no, he never got any LGBT influence. In fact, until just after coming to America to the Garrison, he thought being gay was bad. This belief was never enforced in his family, just no-one taught him that it was ok. 

So Keith… Keith was really the first gay person Lance knew. And Keith chose to come out to him, of all people.  
Why? I mean, Lance was honored that Keith would choose him to come out to, but the question begged to be asked.

_I’ll ask him tomorrow._ Lance thought as his eyes drifted shut. He was way too tired for thought process of any sort. Yawning, Lance curled up on his side.

That night he dreamt of purple eyes, whispered mumbles and smiling faces.

 

The next morning’s breakfast was awkward.

Ah, well, the only person who found it awkward was Lance.   
Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Allura and Coran were all acting normally; Even Keith was acting like nothing was wrong, as if their discussion last night never happened.  
I mean, what did Lance expect? for Keith to be acting more “gay” just because he came out to someone? Well obviously not, but he was expecting something from Keith; A discrete smile, a wave, a “Hey Lance” but no.  
Well, if Keith was going to be acting the same, Lance will too.  
“Hey Keith!” Keith shot his head up, eyes wide. Pidge and Hunk didn’t even blink. “Mullet is terrible as ever, as I can see.” Lance winked Keith before sitting down next to Hunk and Pidge. 

“Hey, Lance, can you stop with the mullet thing? It’s worse than your pick up lines, and i’ve heard all of them.” Pidge complained, head planted on the table.

Lance clicked his tongue. “Hey, Its not _my_ fault your sense of humor sucks.” He shot back. Changing the subject, Lance turned to his best friend. “Morning, Hunk.”  
“Hey Lance, I got you a plate of food goo.”

And the morning proceeded as normal. 

 

Lance spotted Keith fighting a lance wielding training bot on his way to the training deck. He didn’t want to disturb him, so he instead quietly watched from outside the room. It’s not like he had anything better to do, he’s already read all the novels he can read in the Castle’s extensive library. 

Keith’s moves were fluid, as if he was aware of every body part all the time. It was almost as if he were dancing; footsteps were light against the tiled floor, his arm swung up and around his body in a perfect circle, sword painting the shape in a red afterglow as he tried to slice the training robot. It dodged, then went in to stab him; He leaped to the side of the robot, landing lightly and avoiding the lance. He swung one leg behind the other to plant on the ground and twist his body, so he was facing the robot again— went in to attack the robot.

Keith maybe known for being impulsive and acting without thinking; but when he was fighting he was calculating every move. Lance was impressed; Obviously, he was always impressed. But he was also jealous. He wondered if his own fighting looked like that. Probably not— He didn’t even use a sword. But still…

Suddenly, Allura’s voice rang through the castle’s sound system, cutting Lance’s though process. **[“Paladins! rendezvous at the bridge immediately! We need to brief you on your next mission.”]**

“End training session!” Lance barely had any time to snap back to reality before Keith’s voice cut through the room. Lance turned his head, and accidentally met Keith’s eyes as Keith noticed Lance’s presence for the first time. His eyes widened and he froze for a few ticks before is usual (and more upset) scowl crossed his face. Keith angrily crossed the room over to Lance.

“What are you doing here?” 

“I… was headed towards the library.” Lance lied. Keith narrowed his eyes. Lance gulped. “But I also wanted to talk to you.” 

Shoot. That was not the plan.  
Keith leaned back against the glass wall crossing his arms, more interested than angry. “What’s up? Hit me.”

“I…” Suddenly Lance was filled with a million questions he wanted to ask. _What made you want to come out now? When did you first recognize that you were gay? Why didn’t you tell anyone else before? most importantly… why tell me?_  
“Are you ok?” Lance ended up stammering out. “I mean… You know.”  
Keith raised his eyebrows, uncrossing his arms. He his mouth pinched upward. Just a tiny bit. “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.” Keith sighed. “Thanks for asking. But… Why?”

“It’s a big deal, right? coming out to someone.” Lance admitted honestly. “I… Obviously, I don’t know what’s going through your head right now, but… I don’t know. If it were me, I’d be in some pretty major emotional turmoil.” Keith smirked, raising his eyebrows. Lance smiled back, before continuing, face growing serious again. “I don’t think you have anyone else to talk about this stuff to, so I’d thought I’d lend an ear.”

Keith deflated; He opened his mouth, about to say—

**[“Keith! Lance! Pidge! come down to the bridge immediately! You’re wasting your _and_ your fellow paladin’s time! Don’t make me ask again!]**

Oh shit.

Lance snapped his head back to Keith, who had reflated, brows furrowed. “We should go.”  
_Damnit._

“Yeah, you’re right. Lets—”

“Wait.” Keith gabbed onto Lance’s arm before he dashed away. Keith’s eyes bore into Lance’s. He then said, more gratefully than Lance had ever heard, “Thank you. For not telling anyone at breakfast.”

Lance smiled. He was never going to tell anyone anyway. “No problem, buddy, I always keep my promises. I go that way you go that way?” Lance pointed to each side of a split in the hallway respectively— both leading to the Bridge. 

Keith smiled. “Obviously.”

  



	2. I don't know, and thats the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> secrets are questioned, truths are exposed, and Keith probably has a little more going on behind the scenes than he lets on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heheheghehehrhhehahaahahaahhHAHAAHAHHA

Ok.  


 

So maybe Lance _did_ lie to Keith.

 

Just a little bit.

 

Because Lance had never, ever, in his entire life, held a secret for longer than a week. 

His younger sister had a crush on a boy in his grade? He caught his older brother playing video games when it was bed time? Time to tell mama! He just couldn’t help it! he enjoyed communication, and secrets were about the opposite of communication.

This secret, however, he knew he had to take to hisg r a v e. Very dire he did not tell anyone. It was a… difficult, however.

“Hey Lance! did you see that comet?”  


_Hey Hunk! did you know that Keith’s gay?_  
  


 

“Lance, can you pass me the tweezers?”

_Sure, also Keith’s gay._

Lance tried to forget, but his mind always ended up wandering to the memory of Keith spilling the beans. All the questions he was thinking bubbled back into his mind. _Why me?_

But it was weird… He never imagined that Keith would be gay. That was just not something he even thought about thinking about. All they had was a friendly rivalry, nothing more, nothing less.

But now that’s its the reality… 

He didn’t quite know what to make of it.

Like should he treat Keith differently? So far he really hasn’t, but he feels like there should be some meaning to why Keith chose to tell him. 

Lance paced around the room.

What if… Keith had a crush on _him?_

Haha… No way right. He has been nothing but mean to Keith. But it would make sense why Keith would tell him then…

Lance scratched his head, exasperated. _I’m way over thinking it. I should just let it go and treat Keith the same as I always did._

If that would even be possible at this point.   


Lance sat up, stretching. As usual, his room was a mess. Clothes all over the floor (and draped on some of the furniture) desk covered in things he found over his travels, (mostly garbage) beauty products sat on top of his dresser. Those were the only ones that were organized.   


_Keith stood by his door, blocking Lance’s exit, his face heavy with complex emotion that Lance could’t understand at a glance._

_“Lance, theres something… I want to tell you._

_…_

_“… Please don’t tell anyone, ok?”_

 

Lance sighed, got up, then headed to breakfast.

 

 

—

 

Keith stared out into the vast, darkness of space, eyes following the little white stars as they moved past the ship - or as he moved past them. 

 

_What does it mean to be human?_

_To be normal._

 

_Human…_

He thought about his crew mates - Shiro, Hunk, Allura, Pidge, Coran… 

Lance. 

Keith winced. He thought Lance was cute from the very beginning, when they first met back at the garrison. He was lean, tall, and had an infectious smile. He, however, knew that they could never be together - not just because Lance was obviously not interested in men, but because Keith was simply not that fortunate. 

So he gave up that thought the moment it popped into his head.   
_“I think… That guy likes me.” Keith looked at him, eyes wide. Is he talking about me, or to me? “That… What’s his name? Matthew… Matt Holt?” Shiro squinted his eyes, looking torwards the sky and away from Keith’s attempt at a mask of indifference. “Yeah… It’s kinda creepy. I have nothing against gay people, just… Not at me.” Shiro looked at Keith again, smiling. “Haha. I hope he doesn’t flirt with me or anything, I’ll probably vomit.”_

 

_Human._

 

Keith gently hit his head against the frame of the window. Why’d he have to go and tell Lance? He hit his head again.  
Keith slowly lifted his hand, placing his pointer finger into the frosty, slightly fogged window. He traced the characters onto it. 

인간이되고 싶다.

 

He stood up, walking to breakfast. 

 

—

 

Allure clapped her hands. “Paladins, pay attention! We will be making a quick pit stop at a planet called _Apollo_ so we can refuel in 30 minutes. I beseech you to write down things you want, and I’ll allot you an amount of money so you can get it.”

Immediately the paladins started talking. 

“What are you guys going to get? i’m excited. I want to try out some new space ingredients. Do you think they have space flour?”  
“Well, I need a new computer,” Pidge responded. “So maybe something to do with tech? I could use new parts anyway.”

“Guys, get to it!” Allure interrupted.

 

Keith and Lance were walking side by side along the rocky planet’s surface. It’s gravity was greater than the moon’s and less than the ship’s (which is to say, Earth and Altea) so they ended up bouncing along, trying to find an entrance to the elusive rocky city. 

 

_Guys, i’m splitting you up into groups. Pidge and Hunk, you work together. Then Lance and Keith._

_“But can’t I work with Hunk?” Lance complained._

_Shiro sighed. “Lance, last time I let you two work together everyone got lost, Hunk transformed the entire food industry of an entire mall and now we own a cow. So no.”_

_“It was for their own good, though…”  
“Still no.”_

 

“So uh… What are you going to get?” Lance’s voice crackled through the intercoms. He saw Keith turn towards him a little as they bounced along.   
“a 9-inch Rainbow dildo.”  
Lance choked. “What?”

“Just kidding.”   
That asshole… Lance could almost hear his smirk through the sound systems.   
Lance’s mic cracked again as it was reactivated. “Well, I'm going to get an Altean learning book.” 

“Why?”

Lance thought about it for a minute. “It’s not like there’s a whole lot to do on the castle.”  
“Yeah?”

“Yeah. So, I thought i’d do a little research. Spend some of my free time reading, you know, the likes.”

Keith and Lance fell into a less-than-comfortable silence. The vast, expanse of red dirt was haunting to look at. In the distance were some very large mountains, shrouded by the red dust storms, so thick it looked like mist. Lance sighed at the view. In the sky was a small, distant sun. 

“But what are you actually going to get?”

Keith shrugged. “Don’t know. Some trinket?”

“Hm. Fair. Also…”

Keith stopped bouncing (as best he could) to turn around and look back at Lance.

“What?”

“Why did you tell me?”  
Keith frowned. "Why? You said before you didn’t have a problem with it?”  
“Well… I don’t, but… If you have a crush on me, then… that changes things.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Keith’s blood ran cold; All his worst nightmares started bubbling up inside him. He witnessed the bruises that Matt garnished - heard the stories around the locker rooms. Not about Matt. But about other boys who did what Lance was suggesting.   
_Faggot. Earned his lesson.  
_ Keith clenched his hand into a fist. 

“I don’t like you like that.” Keith responded coldly.   
Lance could tell something had changed -the atmosphere was deathly cold. “Oh then, thats no problem. I don’t have a problem with it then.” 

“What would’ve been the problem?”

“Well… I don’t like you like that either. And I didn’t want you to be hurt.”  
“Is that the only reason?”

“Yeah…? Pretty much. Our group dynamic would’ve been weird also and I don’t know if I

could’ve kept that under wraps for so long.”

Keith relaxed. “Ok then.”

“Ok then.”

They were quiet for a while. 

  
“So what is the real reason that you told me?”  
Keith sighed. “I don’t know.”  
“What?”  
“I don’t know why. You ask a lot of questions.”  
“Well I don’t know! It’s kind of a big deal that you told me!”  
“No it isn’t” Keith muttered under his breath. 

“Like did you want to get it off your chest? Your said something about it ‘eating you up inside’”

“It wasn’t. I thought it was but it wasn’t.”

Lance threw his hands up in frustration. “Then WHY did you tell me?”

“I literally just said I don’t know! Are you deaf? Is your helmet broken?”

“But… You had to have a reason. People just don’t come out to other people “for the hell of it.’” Lance made very dramatic quotation signs with his hands. Keith turned back around, ready to start moving forward again.

“I’ll let you know when I find out.”   
  


Well whats that supposed to mean. Lance ended up with more questions than answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hm hm HMMM sorry   
> find me @ my tumblr brozacs

**Author's Note:**

> So some shit is about to go down... Probably. Not in the Klance department, I can tell you that, but I hope u stick around for that because when it does, shit really will go down.  
> I'll post... Maybe... kinda often? once a week? sounds about right  
> ok  
> uh  
> Leave a comment! let me know if it's too OC or let me know if it isn't + anything else u want to tell me i'll lend an ear (lol)  
> Bye


End file.
